When posting training jobs on the blog, I notice most, if not all, employers are looking to hire someone with e-learning skills. Whether organizations want you to work directly with learning tools like Captivate or manage the e-learning function, the need in this area is great and continues to grow.

Earning a Graduate Credential in E-Learning will enhance your degree and show an expertise in e-learning. The Graduate Credential requires you to take five courses. Three of the courses are embedded in the MATD and they include: TRDV 400 Introduction to Training and Development, TRDV 450 Learning Technologies and TRDV 451 Instructional Systems Design-1. The remaining classes consist of two of the following three elective courses:

TRDV 439 E-Learning Course Authoring-1

TRDV 452 Designing and Facilitating for the Virtual Classroom

TRDV 453 E-Learning Course Authoring-2

TRDV 439 and TRDV 453 are made to be taken in succession and are both being offered this fall.

Still trying to decide if e-learning is right for your or how classes prepare you for the workplace? In the fall we hosted a Webinar on preparing for a job in e-learning and we discuss these topics. You can review the recorded Webinar here (scroll to the bottom of the page).

Finally, be sure to check out the job board this week where we highlight e-learning opportunities.

Contact Tara Hawkins thawkins@roosevelt.edu , TRDV program coordinator, with any questions you may have about electives, Graduate Credentials, or enrollment

BY ERIC HAHNRoosevelt Training and Development Graduate assistant

Patrick Swayze in a still from the 1989 movie “Road House.” Courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.

As cases of alleged police brutality garner media attention and ignite protests around the country, it is no surprise that some municipalities have been reassessing how they train law enforcement workers.

However, a surprise did come via Larry Celona and Bruce Golding’s February 24 New York Post article about the NYPD using Patrick Swayze’s 1989 action movie “Road House” in a retraining initiative for 22,000 officers.

Celona and Golding write that trainers used a two-minute clip from the movie in a three-day training session mandated after Eric Garner died in a police chokehold. In the clip, Swayze’s character debriefs bar bouncers on how to handle rowdy customers. One of his “three simple rules” is “be nice.”

Although, a two-minute clip seems to be a small part of the reportedly $35 million project, “Road House” did seem to be an effective attention-getter in a session that included lectures “so boring that many cops have been falling asleep in their seats.”

Needless to say, using movie clips is a well-established instructional method. Just take a look at trainingwithmovies.com or even the Christian-focused wingclips.com. Yet like any instructional device, movie clips need to match the audience need and training objective.

An article in the journal Literature and the Arts in Medical Education states that well-chosen movie clips “provide a quick and direct teaching scenario in which specific scenes point out important issues.” In fact, the authors suggest using primarily American movies “since they tend to tell stories in a straightforward and uncomplicated manner” (Blasco, Moreto, Roncoletta, Levites, Janaudis, 2008). It seems NYPD made a good choice — you can’t get much more straightforward and uncomplicated than “Road House.”

What’s your favorite training flick?Do you use movies for training? What are your favorite movie portrayals of training and development? Tell us about them in the comments and, if you can find one, add a link to a video.

Looking back fifteen years to Oprah’s 2000 commencement address at Roosevelt University in a standing room only Auditorium Theater, she told 675 graduates that “change will only come about in our lives when we welcome it.” As students, or former students, you have welcomed change into your lives by pursuing your educational goals, making time to learn, and challenging yourselves to do your best work.

As we finish another year of achievement, growth, and discovery, take a few moments to reflect and acknowledge your accomplishments. You deserve it!

Then, add a comment to this post to tell us:

What have you learned in your courses this past year? What best practices, tools, or strategies will you use in the future?

What change will you welcome into your life as you prepare to graduate (or move closer to graduation)?

Coaching is a relatively new field and is undergoing an identity crisis as it seeks to define itself within the broad field of workplace learning, consulting, human resource management, career development and in many cases, psychotherapy.

One essential question that is often asked by those seeking coaching services or initiating a coaching practice is how does coaching differ from therapy? Here is my take on the difference:

Coaching: typically involves a short term relationship focused on performance improvement. Appropriate clients are those who have achieved a certain level of success and are seeking to move forward by improving their skills, relationships, or knowledge.

Therapy: According to the APA, therapy refers to treatment for psychological problems. Therapists and clients work together to understand problems and come up with plans for fixing them. The focus is generally on changing ineffective thoughts, emotions or behaviors.

What do you think of the definitions? Can you add to them or provide examples of when coaching or therapy is the correct choice?

by Vince Cyboran, Ed.D. Associate Professor, Graduate Program in Training and Development Roosevelt University

Much like the enigmatic emblems on Scout uniforms, “digital badges” are among the latest efforts for documenting skill competencies in individuals. Mixed with an updateable–and up-to-date–portfolio, professional certification(s), and a wisely chosen graduate degree, badges supposedly signify not only the ability to “do,” but to “do well.” And, like the Scouts’ merit badges, digital badges must be earned.

What is a badge? According to a 2012 article in the Chronicle of Higher Education: “the MacArthur foundation says it’s “a validated indicator of accomplishment, skill, quality or interest,”.” Got it? Please keep reading anyway.

Who are awarding badges? The usual suspects–including Microsoft and Adobe–award a variety of badges through their elaborate formal and informal learning programs and partnerships. Even institutions of higher education are jumping on the badge bandwagon. As universities and colleges struggle to re-establish their relevance and accountability, they are wisely reclaiming their place in the world by championing lifelong learning and awarding credit(s) for experiential learning. Two examples of digital badgers are the University of California at Davis (UC-Davis) and Concordia University (several locations).

Where are digital badges displayed? The not-so-simple answer is anywhere that we share information about ourselves, particularly our “professional” selves. If you go the ‘open badges’ route from mozilla, you would proudly display them on your ‘badge backpack.’ Of course, you could simply include them on your LinkedIn profile. And, for specific instructions on how to do this, you could consult the Open Badges Blog on tumblr.

What benefits do digital badges provide? At a minimum:

Badges are portable. They travel with individuals as the move through their careers and lives.

Badges are institution- and organization-free. They can be earned through formal and informal learning environments.

While it’s too soon to tell whether digital badges are here to stay, they have certainly gained traction amongst the learnarati. It is clear that all professionals in the field of Organizational Learning and Development must be able to speak “badge.” For more information about digital badges, please check the links in the References and Resources section of this post.

But why badges and why now? In the wise words of Craig Mindrum of Accenture, “The late twentieth century was the era of knowledge work and knowledge workers. The first part of the twenty-first century will be about ‘value work’ and ‘value workers.’” Can ‘value badges’ be far behind?

What experiences have you had with badges? Do you think they are or will become relevant?